


I should never have placed my trust in the city

by HistoriaGloria



Category: The Magnus Archives (Podcast)
Genre: Angst, Based on the q+a, DnD typical violence, Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition, F/F, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, The Archives Crew are an adventuring party, canon typical elias bouchard
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-06
Updated: 2020-01-06
Packaged: 2021-02-27 14:35:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,198
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22138669
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HistoriaGloria/pseuds/HistoriaGloria
Summary: 'How has it come to this? Martin wonders...'Wounded and low on spell slots, The Archives Crew desperately try to deal with their cleric betraying them.
Relationships: Basira Hussain/Alice "Daisy" Tonner, Martin Blackwood/Jonathan Sims
Comments: 19
Kudos: 208





	I should never have placed my trust in the city

**Author's Note:**

> I mean okay, Jonny Sims is to blame for this because he gave me the canon dnd classes for the archival staff and well here we go.  
> I hope you guys like this! It functions under 5e because its the system I'm familiar with.  
> You can read as shippy if you like or just sappy gen, all chill.
> 
> Title is from Trial By Song by the Mechanisms from Ulysses Dies At Dawn because I love Jonny and this album makes me go crazy.

How has it come to this? Martin wonders as he drags Jon’s limp body with him as he backs up. The Beholder above them is laughing and Elias laughs with it.

By all the gods, how has it come to this?

He’s practically out of spell slots and the Beholder is barely damaged. Jon is unconscious in his arms, blood dripping from the warlock’s head and eyes.

“Basira!” Martin howls, hoping the paladin has more left than he does. She turns, the holy symbol on her chest thrumming as the aura surrounding her heals Daisy slightly to keep her fighting. But Elias is still laughing, and Martin is far too close.

“Oh, you’re going to have to do so much better than that,” Elias sneers, hand glowing with the greenish energy of his god. Martin spits right back;

“May you rot in the hell you deserve!” Cutting Words does its job and Basira lunges forwards towards them, the blast of radiant energy spiralling over her head.

“Elias, you motherfucker, over here!” Melanie yells as her dire wolf slams into him, swiftly followed by two arrows. Martin tugs Jon back even further as 4 bolts of energy whistle over his head, slamming into the Beholder. Sasha stands there, her tome open and eyes blazing.

“Should have killed him when we had the chance,” Basira hisses, scowling at Elias even as she presses her glowing palms to Jon’s chest.

“Now is the chance,” Martin bites back, as Jon stirs, his eyes flickering open. Martin looks up in time to see Tim duck under a sickly green ray from the Beholder to carve his sword across Elias’s smug little face.

How had they ever trusted this scheming bastard of a cleric? Admittedly, they never really had, what with his vague references to an unknown Knowledge God and a significant reluctance to ever actually heal anyone. Also, the somewhat creepy interest he had taken in Jon had always made Martin feel uncomfortable. But honestly for him to turn rogue and summon a Beholder when the party was already low had certainly been too much. They should have thrown him out when he had started to fuck with Jon’s mind, making the poor man question everything. When they had first met, Martin had thought Jon was a druid or possibly a sorcerer and Jon thought so too. It had been Elias who had pushed and prodded and forced until Jon had screamed that he didn’t know where his power came from. Until he had told them about the nightmares of The Eye. Sasha, learned and meticulous Sasha, had been the one who had worked out that he was a warlock. It had scared Jon at first, but he needs the power in a vicious and violent world like this one. And after this, Elias had only gotten worse, sneering at Jon about ‘feeding his god’ until Daisy had thrown a knife inches from his face. Daisy always had been quietly overprotective of Jon. Honestly, they’re all somewhat ride or die, just a little more, I-would-kill-for-you than I-would-die-for-you. They were an odd band, sure, but they had done okay together. Until now.

Basira raises her shield to deflect a bright red ray from the Beholder as Daisy slips up behind Elias. Driving a blade into his back. But, the Beholder is looming over Tim and he doesn’t have anywhere to run as a ray hits him, slowing his movements. Martin scrambles back as the Beholder turns towards them.

“Fuck!” Sasha yelps behind him and the four of them scatter, trying to get out of its sight.

“Over here, you great floating idiot!” Melanie howls from opposite them, her arrows driving into the Beholder’s back. It does the trick; Sasha’s hands catch fire as she sends three scorching rays into Elias, letting Tim stagger back.

But not before Elias reaches out, hand pulsing with dark energy and catches Tim by the throat, making him howl out in pain. He stumbles, the necrotic energy leaching the life from him and Martin yells out;

“Tim! Steady as the yew tree, the protector does not fall, does not waver beneath the eyes of evil!” The healing spell keeps him upright but Martin barely has anything left.

“Elias, I hope you prayed to your pitiful god before this,” Jon snarls from across the battlefield as his palms fill with yellow-green force energy, slamming into the cleric.

“You’re all so weak,” Elias spits but he’s bleeding heavily. He tips his head back and laughs as fire erupts in front of him, managing to catch Tim, Basira and Daisy in the blast. Martin isn’t quite far enough away and he scrambles back, burnt and bloodied from the Flame Strike. When the spell fades, Tim and Daisy are both unconscious and Basira is barely standing.

“No!” Melanie screams and Martin realises her direwolf is limp on the ground.

Martin makes a decision.

“Nobody fucking dies here.” He spits out blood and runs so as to avoid the Beholder which has turned its gaze on Jon. And, using his last high-level spell slot, Martin yells,

“A family is bound, not by blood, not by happiness, but by the desire to protect each other. Rise, rise, family of mine, for we shall not fall to betrayal. This is not the day we die!” Mass Healing Word. Tim and Daisy stand, shakily. Basira straightens up, fire in her eyes. Melanie and her direwolf both bare their teeth and behind him, Sasha exhales in relief.

Elias looks furious.

“I underestimated you, Martin,” he hisses, spitting blood as he goes. “No matter. You shall die first.” Martin doesn’t even have time to attempt Cutting Words as the Guiding Bolt hits him in the chest. He managed to keep standing but only just.

“Don’t you touch him!” Jon screams but he’s in sight of the Beholder as the eldritch energy fizzles, useless, in his palms. Tim wheels around, slashing at Elias with wild abandon as Daisy throws two daggers into the Beholder.

And then, something else hits Martin.

A ray from the Beholder and he is paralyzed, bleeding out and completely helpless. He is helpless as a black ray catches Sasha in the arm and she stumbles. He is helpless as Jon makes a desperate dash away from the Beholder and is bitten in the shoulder. He is helpless as Melanie is struck by another ray, throwing her 30 feet backwards.

But they all make it, all stay standing. Jon’s hands catch fire, sending a bolt of flame into Elias’s chest. Melanie sends her direwolf up against the cleric with a shout, concentrating her own fire on the Beholder. Sasha’s own Firebolt catches the Beholder as it turns to look at her and Martin.

This is it. Paralyzed as he is, he can’t avoid the Beholder’s rays. Only one has to hit him to kill him.

“I said, die!” Elias hisses, casting out a hand. It’s nothing. It’s a cantrip, Scared Flame. Martin recognises it, but he can’t move to avoid it.

“No!” Jon’s anguished shout is the last thing Martin hears before he loses consciousness.

* * *

The battle had been going decidedly poorly for Jon. After their way through a vicious collection of yuanti, Jon had been bloodied and was already out of spell slots. Sasha and Martin hadn’t been much better. They had hoped to find a truth about Elias’s deity here; he had dragged them along with a fair amount of bullying.

And then, he had summoned a Beholder and tried to kill them. Jon remembers going down, Elias’s spell catching him in the chest, and everything is black. But he’s awake again not even moments later, looking up at Martin and Basira who are covered in blood.

Jon runs, yells and grows furious at Elias as the power afforded to him by his patron boils in his veins. And then, Martin manages to bring half the party back up and the Beholder is mere feet from Jon. Elias is promising to kill Martin and nothing is working. He’s too close to the Beholder, even as he is bitten, he has to help Martin, he has to get to Martin, he has to save Martin…

He is too late.

Paralyzed by the Beholder’s eye ray, Martin can’t even twitch as the spell hits him in the chest.

“No!” Jon screams and his hands are glowing, eldritch force blasting into Elias before he can even think about it. Martin collapses and Elias staggers back. But Melanie is there, her teeth bare and her eyes narrow with rage.

Twang! Twang! Elias falls back, dead, with a smouldering crater in his chest from Jon’s eldritch blast and an arrow in each eye.

Tim turns on the Beholder with a fury, his sword carving off a couple of the eyestalks. Daisy drives a dagger into its huge main eye, panting heavily as she forces down her own fury. Basira is there behind the Beholder, her sword glowing with holy light as she swipes.

“Jon!” It’s Sasha’s voice, reedy and afraid. He turns and she’s stood over Martin, looking desperate. Neither of them are healers and from her panicked gaze and trembling fingertips, she’s out of spell slots too. He can feel the Beholder’s gaze on his back and Jon shudders.

“Help them,” he gasps out, running over as he rifles in his pack, desperately hoping he has a health potion left. The gaze of the Beholder shifts to focus on Basira, dropping her aura and smite, but it lets Sasha dart forwards and blast it in the back with Ray of Frost.

Jon is tearing up now. Martin is limp at his feet, eyes closed, hair matted with blood and he _can’t find this damned health potion_. Tim yells in pain and Jon glances up as the Beholder sinks its teeth into the fighter’s sword arm. It’s looking rough now. Everyone over there does, but none of them move away; the party is determined to kill this thing.

And finally, Jon’s fingers close around the cool glass of a potion bottle and he yanks it out of his bag. His hands shake violently as he uncorks the healing potion and tips it into Martin’s mouth. The bard splutters and coughs but he is alive and Jon sags. He turns, palms glowing with energy just in time to see Basira force her blade straight through the Beholder’s body, yelling out as she destroys it.

And everything is quiet for a long, long moment.

“Is it over?” comes a weak voice beside Jon and he laughs wetly. Martin is sitting up slowly, clutching at his chest.

“It’s over,” Tim replies, leaning heavily on his sword. “Is everyone alright?” There are varying groans and mumbles, but they’re all still conscious. They’re still alive. Melanie limps over from her position far across the field, her direwolf helping her along.

“Fuck that motherfucker,” she says, translating all their thoughts about Elias into words.

“Honestly, we should have known he was bad news from the start,” Basira mutters, leaning heavily on Daisy.

“Hindsight is very clear,” is all Sasha replies.

“Well, he’s dead now. We should burn the body, don’t want him coming back or anything,” Tim grunts and before he has even finished his sentence, Fire Bolt is leaping from Jon’s fingers to set Elias’s body alight.

“Are you okay?” he asks Martin softly as the bard hasn’t moved much. Martin gives him a weak smile in response, placing his hand over Jon’s.

“No worse than anyone else,” he replies. And he’s right, everyone is bloodied and exhausted.

“Looks like we’ll be camping here for the night,” grunts Daisy.

“I’ll sort it,” Sasha mutters and moves away from the group to start her ritual casting.

“Martin,” Tim says, coming to sit down beside him and Jon. “Thanks for keeping me upright back there. It was, well, it was a lot.” Martin smiles, leaning against Jon now.

“S’alright, Tim. Can’t have our fighter going down because he enjoys screaming in the face of our ex-cleric.” Tim chuckles, wiping a little blood from the corner of his mouth.

“He deserved it,” he says and Melanie nods firmly. And they’re not wrong, Jon thinks. Elias definitely did deserve that. They wait patiently for the ten minutes that it takes Sasha to cast but as soon as she completes the spell, a dome appears around them all. It’s small and cramped as it always is, but it’s warm and safe. Jon readjusts so that he can lie his sleeping roll out beside Martin. It doesn’t take them very long to rearrange themselves into a comfortable bundle of people.

Jon finds himself curled up beside Martin with Sasha pressed up on the other side. Tim lies above them, sword still clutched in his hand. Beside Martin lies Melanie, her face pressed into the fur of her direwolf. And below them, Basira and Daisy are intertwined. And as Jon presses into Martin’s chest, his eyes closing he feels safer than he has for a long time.

Sure, they’re not perfect. They bicker and snap and fight, but in the end, they are a family. And they would protect each other forever.

**Author's Note:**

> Okay class run down:  
> Martin: Bard, College of Lore.  
> Jon: Warlock, Pact of the Tome, Great Old One patron.  
> Tim: Protection Fighter  
> Basira: Paladin, Oath of Heroism, Light Domain  
> Melanie: Beastmaster Ranger.  
> Daisy: Rogue assassin, with levels in barbarian  
> Sasha: Wizard, School of Transmutation  
> Elias: Cleric, Knowledge Domain.
> 
> Come bother me on twitter and tumblr at HistoriaGloria!


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